Tuesday, September 07, 2021

Rochester Man Pleads Guilty To Sex Trafficking By Force

 ROCHESTER, N.Y. — U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Peter R. Kiwitt, 62, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa to sex trafficking by coercion. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Marangola, who is handling the case, stated Kiwitt is a registered sex offender who committed this offense while on probation in Monroe County. This investigation commenced in January 2019 after Rochester Police Department officers responded to a residence in the City of Rochester for the report of a fatal overdose involving a minor victim. The owner of the apartment found the minor deceased on his living room floor and called 911. He told officers he brought the minor victim back to his residence to engage in commercial sex acts with her. The investigation determined Kiwitt was sex trafficking the minor victim until shortly before her death, using the victim’s addiction to heroin to coerce her to engage in commercial sex acts with men in the Rochester area.

Sentencing is scheduled for November 22, 2021, at 9:15 a.m. before Judge Siragusa.

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia, and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Todd Baxter.

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